Underpass overshoots deadline

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike standing committee on major works has set a 100-day deadline for the completion of work on Kadirenahalli underpass.

The committee, which inspected the work recently, sought an explanation from the contractors (Madava Hytech) and the consultant (Geotech) for the slow progress and the consequent delay in completion. It was found that only 40 per cent of the work had been completed even after two years of launching the project.

The contractor has taken up at least 15 projects and there was little progress in any of such projects, S Harish, a member said. Chairman of the committee Ravindra told reporters that a major challenge faced by the project was land acquisition. The owners of 44 houses required for the project are insisting for compensation at Rs 3,000 per square foot while the Palike has offered Rs 2,450 per square foot. The inspection team later visited Balaji Layout where four houses had come up on a storm water drain. The officials were directed to demolish the illegal structures. The committee also decided to construct a bridge on the storm water drain at a cost of Rs 25 crore near the Kamakhya theatre to prevent flooding during rain. The work would commence in a fortnight.

The work on the Rs 25-cr flyover at Kittur Rani Chennamma Circle near Deve Gowda petrol pump would commence soon on a turnkey basis. It has also been proposed to construct another flyover to connect NR Colony and Padmanabhanagar.